Facebook Veteran Owen Van Natta Named MySpace CEO

One day after Chris DeWolfe stepped down as MySpace CEO, the social networking site named Facebook veteran Owen Van Natta as his successor.

One day after Chris DeWolfe stepped down as MySpace CEO, the social networking site named Facebook veteran Owen Van Natta as his successor.

Van Natta most recently served as CEO of Project Playlist, which allows its users to compile playlists from music on the site, but he has also served as chief revenue officer and vice president of operations at Facebook and vice president of worldwide business and corporate development at Amazon.

"Owen combines a deep understanding of social networking, a keen business sense and the operational experience to guide MySpace through its next phase of growth. I'm confident his leadership will be an invaluable asset," said Jonathan Miller, CEO of digital media and chief digital officer at News Corp., which owns MySpace.

"I'm thrilled to have the privilege to pilot MySpace in what is sure to be an incredibly exciting and rewarding next chapter for the business," Van Natta said in a statement.

Last month, EMI Music dropped a lawsuit against Project Playlist and reached a deal to distribute its content on the site. Nine record labels, including Warner Bros. and Atlantic Records, however, remain a part of the suit.

DeWolfe, meanwhile, will continue to serve on the board of MySpace China and be a strategic advisor to the company, News Corp said in a statement.

UPDATE: Project Playlist announced Friday afternoon that John Sykes, co-founder of MTV, and former CEO of VH1 and Infinity Broadcasting, will take over as its CEO.

Chloe Albanesius has been with PCMag.com since April 2007, most recently as Executive Editor for News and Features. Prior to that, she worked for a year covering financial IT on Wall Street for Incisive Media. From 2002 to 2005, Chloe covered technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from American University...
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